KBearlog

I was pretty busy yesterday morning at work so I didn’t hear about T.O.’s “attempted suicide” until around lunch time. Like nearly everyone else I was shocked. If you had been watching ESPN you expected to see T.O. in a straight jacket under 24 hour watch. So guess my surprise when I saw him at his press conference. He was acting quite calm and normal. I can’t say the same about his publicist. Did she really think saying: “Terrell has 25 million reasons why he should be alive” was a good idea? The whole day was surreal, something you could say about T.O.’s career of late.

The first time I really paid attention to T.O. was the 1998 playoff game between San Francisco and Green Bay when he caught the winning touchdown. He dropped some key passes early in the game but he came through big in the end. He really became a household name in 2000 when he celebrated on the Dallas Cowboy’s star. I knew the Cowboys were no longer a championship caliber team when no one on the team killed him for it. After that incident the coverage of him escalated with every move he made. Yet as ubiquitous as he is, I do enjoy watching him play. He’s the best receiver in the NFL and he has the ability to break one for a touchdown every time he touches the ball. Off the field he annoys me, but I do find him somewhat entertaining. I know I shouldn’t watch him throw quarterbacks under the bus, but I can’t take my eyes off his antics. (And that’s not an euphemism for anything buddy.)

Well yesterday whether you wanted to or not, you couldn’t take your eyes off him. As much of a famewhore he is, I’ll place this one completely on the media’s back. They got that police report and ran with it all the way, not bothering to let the fact that they didn’t actually know anything get in the way. The reaction of people ranged from people feeling sorry for this “troubled soul” to people wishing they could pour more pills down his throat to finish the job. I spent a lot of the afternoon emailing my sister as we made snarky comments on the media coverage. Finally T.O. did his press conference and it quieted the storm a little. Now we’ll have to listen to all the amateur psychiatrist try to explain his psyche. One thing I’m sure of, T.O. will love the attention.

Last night was the season premiere of the Gilmore Girls. This has been a contentious off season for them. Many fans of the show hated the later part of last season because of the fracturing of the Luke and Lorelai relationship. The show introduced Luke’s 12 year old daughter, a daughter Luke and the audience knew nothing about. The daughter became a wedge between Luke and Lorelai, with Luke shutting Lorelai out of his life, and Lorelai uncharacteristically accepting it. Finally Lorelai had enough and made Luke an ultimatum of marrying her now. Luke said no, so Lorelai sought comfort in her baby daddy’s bed. Needless to say Gilmore Girls’ fans had a fit. Adding to their fears, the creator of the show left because of a contract dispute, so a new Executive Producer had to take over the show. The two questions confronting him have been could he maintain the unique voice of the show’s creator and could he and his staff get out of the quandary the show’s creator left. The answer too both questions were kind of. I know many people complained the pace felt slower and a lot of the pop references the show had weren’t there. I didn’t notice it that much. They might not have the rhythm of the show down exactly as it was, but it wasn’t jolting. The show’s sense of humor was there, and the characters actions made more sense than they did last year. They allowed the characters to actually discuss what they are feeling instead of making us guess. Last year Luke and Lorelai acted so out of character that it could have been a new show. At least now the new TPTB is trying to give them some plausible explanations for their actions. As for getting them out of the quandary the show’s creator put them in, that’s going to take some time. The episode was good but I’m going to have to give it sometime before I can decide if the show is back.

I was anticipating the Gilmore Girls, but the show I enjoyed was Nip/Tuck. It’s rebounded from its disastrous season last year, and is back to the goodness of Season 1 and 2. Instead of having the crazy and unfortunately boring Carver storyline, we’ve gone back to what made the show great. Outrageous storylines that have at their center, the emotional weight of Christian, Sean and Julia, three of the most messed up people in the world. Last night got an A for outrageous. In one storyline Laura Ingall Wilder aka Melissa Gilbert had her nipple chewed off by her dog. The story she gave Christian was innocent enough. I didn’t believe it because something about her story felt off. Well it was because she left out the little point about spreading peanut butter on her nipple so her dog would lick it off. What would Pa and Ma Ingalls think? Liz, the lesbian anesthesiologist picked up a hot girl at a lesbian bar with the help of Christian. It looked liked Liz was finally going to get some loving; instead she got her kidney stolen. Meanwhile we find out that Michelle, the young hot wife of Larry Hagman’s character is being blackmailed by guest star Jacqueline Bisset because Michelle use to work for her as an escort. We also learned that Jacqueline isn’t one of those nice civilized madams but one who’ll mess you up as bad as one of your more vicious pimps. That doesn’t even cover Christian blackmailing Michelle for sex, Sean hallucinating about seeing the evil Escobar and his dead lover Megan after ingesting hash baked brownies while on a booty call at the could have been nanny’s house, and Julia not wanting to feed her lobster handed baby, whoa, that’s too much too cover. Needless to say it was stupid and exhilarating. Just like I like it.

Well the official premiere week on TV started on Monday. Before premiere week started, the now defunct WB had their last night airing programs on Sunday night. They went with the pilots of some of their network's signature shows. I never watched Felicity and Dawson's Creek and I decided not to start. I did watch two of my favorite shows on the WB, Angel, and one of my favorite shows period, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The pilots for both shows held up well. If it hadn't have been for Buffy, I wouldn't have known that the WB even existed. I would advise the new CW to create a new show like Buffy to brand their network. Calling Mr. Whedon.

As for the shows that started this week. I enjoyed Studio 60. I'm not ready to call it the best new show to ever grace TV yet, but it had a good start. The best thing I can say about it that everyone in the cast did a good job, and I didn't roll my eyes once from the dialogue. I hope this show is as good as Sports Night (which I liked better than West Wing). The rest of the week was okay, even though until new episodes of Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars and Lost come on, I won't be killing myself to get to the TV. Gilmore Girls new episodes premieres next Tuesday, while Veronica Mars and Lost don't get started until October.

Finally on Thursday came the premieres I've been waiting on. My Name is Earl, The Office and Grey's Anatomy. Both Earl and Grey's Anatomy were good. I get a kick out of Joy; and watching her chase after the guy she accidently kidnapped with him in his underwear was hilarious. Grey's Anatomy picked up where they left off, which is a good thing and kind of a bad thing. Watching Meredith and McDreamy do their little dance around each other is beginning to bore me. I find the rest of the characters much more interesting. And Derrick, if you don't want Addison, pass her over her, I'd take her over Meredith any day of the week. The Office is in a catergory of its own. Since Arrested Development went off the air, it is the best comedy on TV and it again proved why last night. I laughed so hard during some of the show that I lost my breath. (Of course I'm just getting over a bad cold so I didn't have an excess of breath to begin with). The writing on this show gets sharper and sharper and everyone on this show is indispensable. I can only hope I'll see a scene as funny as Michael trying to kiss Oscar again this season. Steve Carrell better get that Emmy next year, you hear me Emmy people.

That is all. I might watch Desperate Housewives this Sunday, but I really grew to dislike that show last season after liking it so much its first year. I might tape it and watch it after the game just to see if it's any good now. I'll be back to complain about the Gilmore Girls. After last season, its on a short lease with me. Also the second season of the new Dr. Who is back next Friday. Can't wait for that, I want to see if the new 10th Doctor can hold a candle to the 9th Doctor. Later amigos.

I'M BACK!!! I can see the feverish look of excitement on your faces. I could tell you what I've been doing since I last posted but the excitement of it might just make you keel over, so we'll just say that whatever I've been doing is mostly legal. If you've heard anything about me and the NSA, just ignore it (if you know what's good for you).

Since I'm back and ready to blog, we'll go back to discussing what I find interesting. So there'll be a lot of talk on what's on TV. We'll discuss all forms of the media and we'll even throw in some current events. If you decide to post comments on what's being discussed, I'll be happy to include you in the fun. So hopefully NSA business (strike that last remark) won't be keeping me from blogging regularly. So as Dewey Finn would say, "Let's Rock!!!"